Stop Buying Personal Finance Books — You Don’t Need Them

If you pick up a personal finance book and only get a nugget or two out of it, it’s a fair trade. If you are extremely fortunate, you’ll buy a “PF” book that speaks to you in a way no other has before. This can be a life-changing event for you and your family. I know it has been in my case.

Often, the messages are similar, but the way writers deliver the message varies. So if one particular book connects with you, go for it. I’m a fan. What I’m not a fan of, however, is when an author becomes a cult figure and sells his/her schlock to you non-stop. Pardon me. Does anyone have to write the same book 47 times?

Even if the 47th title does have some nugget that the 46 titles before it didn’t have, there comes a point for readers to stop learning and start doing. The 47th title might be OK, but it can be a distraction that keeps you from executing your entrepreneurial ideas.

That’s why it bothers me when authors rewrite the same book over and over again. I see this constant barrage of publications as dangerous to your financial health. The distraction cost worries me far more than the price of the book.

The people who write these books know this. But it doesn’t stop some of them from churning out anything they think you’ll buy. My conclusion is that they just want your cash. I know I’m naïve, but this really ticks me off. This behavior is simply unethical.

Here they are writing about how to save you money when all they want to do is separate you from it and put it in their own pocket.

The best (maybe worst) example is Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Inc. As you probably know, Robert Kiyosaki is the man who started this organization with his first book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. His message is that you are better off financially as a business owner than an employee and that you are better off as an owner than as a lender. He also helps readers learn how to make a small business successful.

(This message might be true for some people, but not for everyone. Some people actually get into big trouble because they try to be business owners when they don’t have the skills to do it. So if you read his book and “drink the Kool Aid,” you might end up in a world of pain.)

Don’t get me wrong, I respect Mr. Kiyosaki on many levels. First, he’s a great business person, writer and entrepreneur. He’s also encouraged folks and helped some. I’ll be the first to admit that his first book helped me.

But Bobby, you should have stopped while you were ahead.

OK, OK…maybe the Cash Flow game was cool too…but that’s it. Who needs 50 titles – a full four pages on Amazon – of Rich Bla Poor Bla????

If you do an Amazon search on Kiyosaki, here’s a partial list of the products you’ll find:

Am I the only one who thinks this is ridiculous? If you want to be in business for yourself, you’re going to need practical ideas — not useless regurgitated ideas.

Does anyone on this planet think that the materials are all that different? That the ideas are new? Don’t you think Mr. Kiyosaki could have reduced this to maybe four different books and have covered everything?

When I see a list like this it completely discredits the author in my mind, so I don’t even take his or her work seriously. That’s probably another character flaw of mine (add it to the list), but I’ll bet I’m not the only one who operates this way.

Other authors come to mind who have made an industry out of their names and, for the most part, I don’t respect what they do either. There is of course, the exception.

Dave Ramsey.

He also has a large number of items for sale on Amazon. But he only has a handful of books for sale. Also, since he released the “Total Money Makeover” he hasn’t released any new books. Dave probably thinks he’s said what he needs to say and now it’s up to us to “get ‘er done.” If that’s so, it’s really refreshing.

Maybe I’m wrong but it feels like Dave is all about taking action and not selling more crap. That’s just the feeling I get anyway. I could be wrong, but I get the sense that Dave would be the first one to tell you to implement everything from his course or book and you won’t need to buy anything else.

Also, everywhere you turn you see people who report on miraculous changes as a result of going through his materials. You can’t argue with those kinds of results.

How can my rant on personal finance books be useful to you?

Before you buy another personal finance book, ask yourself if your problem is lack of knowledge or lack of action. If you need more knowledge, by all means, study the table of contents. If the book looks like it’s going to fill in that gap, buy it. Let’s say you want to get a good FICO score. One or two bright ideas could really help you.

But if after you search your heart, you realize that your problem is lack of action, put the book back on the shelf and get to work. Forget about the person who wrote the book. Think about the principles behind the book and only buy it if you need that message explained.

So after writing a 1,000 word rant on authors, how can I have the nerve to create products to sell to you?

Maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I’m in denial.

You be the judge.

I have one book out and another on the way. I’ll be writing e-books on very specific topics (to sell) and I offer coaching too.

So am I the biggest hypocrite you ever met? Should you start calling me “Rich Pilgrim, Poor Pilgrim”?

I obviously hope not. But is there really any difference? Do you have the same reaction I have to authors who pump out book after book in the personal finance realm?

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Comments

Cards on the table. I have read around 10 of the Rich Dad books. I think the Cashflow Quadrant (book 2) in particular is a must read for all budding entrepreneurs.

However, as my mum would say “actions speak louder then words”. The sheer number of Rich Dad books is clearly all about enriching the publisher. I believe Kiyosaki sold the brand a few years back for a large cash sum.

Sounds good Neal! Maybe I should check out the “How To Stop Worrying” book too. Although everytime I think “what’s the worst that could happen”, I never find it really bad anyway. I’ll just go hug the wife 🙂

There have been a books, in my life, that have really made a huge impact. I had to study and re-study. “HOW TO STOP WORRYING AND START LIVING” is an example. I need to own it so I can “OWN” it….if that makes any sense.

Hi, Let me congratulate for maintaining such a wonderful site: Yesterday when one of our forum moderators referred me your site, I just couldn’t take off eyes from it! I am a financial writer and I have written many quality articles on Debt consolidation, Mortgage, loan modification, Foreclosure.

Hilarious! The best is when personal finance authors get rich by selling personal finance self help stuff. There are a lot of ironies in our arena, and many consumers fall for it. Intentions could be good, but the stories finance writers come up with just amazing to hook readers.

I know this one guy who was 22 years old and told everybody how to be rich. He wasn’t rich then, but got rich afterwards since he sold lots of books. Pure genius! 🙂

Neal, I found you blog to be refreshing and quite entertaining. It really is baffling sometimes when you stand at a bookstore and gaze with amazement at the number of personal finance books that are authored. The one thing that I have tried to do is let the grudge match play out between the likes of Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, Beth Kobliner and Robert Kiyosaki. However, for me I believe that reaching out to young adults is very important. I know my 16 year step son and his friends were an inspiration to me, along with the inner city kids I teach in an after-school program in south Los Angeles

The name Rich Dad Poor Dad is a brand and so he is using it to promote his other materials. Nothing is wrong in selling one’s brand. Well this book is the first Personal Finance I have read and it speaks directly to what was happening to me. It opened my eyes to the reality of personal finance. Persons who know the brand Rich Dad Poor Dad will not necessary remember the author name and so once he/she sees this brand they will just pick up the book once it is not the one that was previously read.

Everyone was born with an entrepreneur spirit but not everyone knows how to manipulate it. Determination and sacrifices are essential in making it in life.

I can’t say much about Kiyosaki’s books until I read the other 45 but I tend to agree with you about writers, doctors, car salesman and anyone else that is habitually trying to separate me from my money.

I respect some of what Kiyosaki wrote, he does make good points if a person is predisposed to being a business owner.

The same is true for Dave Ramsey. His message is sound. However, while he has not written a lot of books, yet, he does have several other methods for growing his pile of wealth at the expense of his customers. From my vantage point he abuses people’s faith in using the bible and religion to drive them to his financial peace programs. Then he gets them to sign up for continued counseling and then sells them on an evangelical revival of debt reduction at the local stadium. Following all of Dave’s programs will cost you a whole lot more than Kiyosaki’s books!

We also have a few PF bloggers that do the same. We’ve all seen the blogs that provide “advice and guidance” for free but then promote payday loan services or credit consolidation companies.

Caveat emptor!

Sadly, too many people are not educated enough to see through the smoke a mirrors until well after their money is spent.

“But if we write the same thing over and over again and sell it to the same “true believers” what good are we?”

Ask the true believers. If they keep buying, there must be a reason.

For example, I’m a “true believer” of Seth Godin’s message. I buy every one of his books, even though they’re all rather similar. I find them entertaining, and I find value in having his points hammered home into my head. (I need that sometimes.)

Now, if people are buying multiples of Kiyosaki’s books and feeling that they got duped into doing so, then that’s a problem.

I’ll be the first to say that I don’t buy Kiyosaki’s advice. But I’m not sure I can fault him for continuing to preach it (via writing, given that that’s what he does) if that’s what he believes.

Let’s take Rick Ferri as an example. He’s got a handful of books, all about investing, all promoting the same principles. But they focus on sufficiently different aspects that I think it’s great that he’s written each of them.

Alternatively, I have two books about investing. They’re extremely similar in terms of suggestions made, but they take very different approaches. I think that makes sense also.

Or even Kiyosaki: If he really thinks that his ideas benefit people, I’m not sure I can blame him for doing everything he can to saturate bookstores (both online and offline) with them.

Yes, Kiyosaki’s books rehash the same advice (advice I tend to find dubious at best), but I think that that’s pretty clear to any prospective reader who takes the time to read the table of contents.

There’s definitely something to be said for the less-is-more approach here. There are hundreds of snake-oil salesmen out there, and I get the sense that someone who’s pushing too hard is protesting a little too much.

I have to agree with Neal here. Rampant consumerism drives most PF bloggers and a lot of every day Joe’s crazy now-a-days. For a PF writer to embrace the very thing he is trying to thwart is abhorrent and indicative of his true motivation… being rich. Although there is nothing inherently wrong with being rich, if it is your main motivation then you are sorely missing the mark!

People need help… and those with gifts need to help them. That is the mark.

I think one of the wonderful things about blogs is that they keep putting out motivating words, relate their articles to what is going on around us, and they are constantly changing and providing new ideas. Once you read a book, you’re done, and usually that’s it. But with a blog, there is a constant reminder to keep working and improving, and it has helped me immensely.

Amen. That’s something I admire about Dave Ramsey. He’s got one system, one book (and a second, financial/inspirational book on Financial Peace) and then tells you to get it done. Having shelved PF books at a library, I can tell you there’s a lot of noise out there.

Sometimes I even wonder about the utility of blogs. Normally I think of them as something to inspire continued action for people who are trying to make good financial decisions. They keep you mindful of your goals, provide a supportive setting for those goals, and give you information to help complete those goals.

But I can’t help wondering how much is also information overload that people don’t even need. Whether people would be better off without blogs or only reading a couple of PF blogs regularly…

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Who is Neal Frankle

I'm a Certified Financial Planner™ with more than 25 years of experience. I feel very blessed and hope to share my personal financial experience and professional wisdom with readers of WealthPilgrim. Read More »

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